Massdrop Announces Dan Durston X Mid Tent: 2 People, 2 hiking poles, 28 oz, $199

[Roman Vazhnov]

Hi, Dan.
Thanks for your answers. Maybe you can tell us what the tear strength for fly fabric is, if you’ll find spec someday? Just to make clear.
Very interesting project, and i am waiting for 2p model.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Roman,

I looked at the tear strength spec back when we were selecting the material but that was over a year ago. I don’t seem to have it on hand anymore, so I have re-inquired about it. However it can take a bit of time because I send a message to Massdrop and ask them to ask the fabric mill, but Massdrop is very busy so I’m not sure how quickly they will get back to me. This sort of thing was easier a year ago when Danny Milks (former BPL reviewer) was running the UL community on Massdrop because he was  big geek on this sort of thing.

What I do remember is that the spec was typical for this type of material. We wanted some PU inside so it is non-slippery and can be seam taped, but not so much that is really lowers the tear strength like the PU4000 stuff from RSBTR. So the tear strength is lower than nylon, similar to the normal silpoly sold by RSBTR, and higher than both their 15D silpoly and 20D PU4000 silpoly. It is certainly higher than some of the materials currently being used to build tents and tarps.

I also think things like guyout design are probably more important than tear strength, as this good article goes into, in the sense that it’s really the areas where the stress is focused onto a small portion that are going to fail, if anything. That’s why the guyouts are very beefy with both webbing and grosgrain as the video shows. I’m not aware of other UL tents using real webbing at the guyouts, although perhaps some do. The 2P design guyout is similarly strong but redesigned to be a bit lighter.

So I don’t know the actual number but hopefully I will hear back soon. We did look into this and it was reasonably and typical for the material type. Quite a few other companies are also switching to using a very similar material, such as Black Diamond, Yama, Borah, TrekkerTent, Six Moon Designs and Lightheart Gear.

[Roger Caffin]

things like guyout design are probably more important than tear strength,
I have to agree.
I have never found fabric strength to be a problem in itself, but stress concentration due to poor design IS. Bar-tacking a bit of webbing onto a hem really is a disaster.

Cheers

[Roman Vazhnov]

Dan, maybe you already answered, couldn’t find, why did you choose to use waterproof Uretek zippers instead of regular zippers with stormflap? Regular zipper is probably more longlasting and reliable in winter.

[CARLOS C.]

Roman, Dan did touch on the subject that this tent was never designed as full on winter tent. He went into the capabilities and features that could aide it as the season changed to winter. Check back a few pages.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Roman,

Generally speaking, I don’t like storm flaps because they don’t work very well. They don’t do a good job of keeping the rain out because wind can blow them around, and they routinely snag in the zipper which makes the doorways annoying to use. These became popular before waterproof zippers were available but now I think they are obsolete in high end equipment.

A water resistant uretek zipper is basically a regular zipper plus a water resistant layer on the outside, so I haven’t seen any evidence they are less reliable. They have been popular for a decade or so now on a wide range of 4 season tents and are well proven.

If you look at zipper selection across the hiking industry, you’ll see that uretek zippers are almost always selected for high end gear, and then regular zips are chosen when a manufacturer is trying to keep the price low. For example, TarpTent uses regular zips + flaps on their $360 StratoSpire2 but they opt for Uretek zippers on their $680 StratoSpire Li. Indeed uretek zippers cost more, but they also work much better and that’s important to me, so that’s why I’m using them.

The most important thing for zipper reliability is using an appropriate gauge of zipper. Some lightweight companies use #3 zippers (Locus Gear, Big Agnes etc) but I am using #5 zippers which are very strong and durable. These zippers are popular on ultralight gear that is on the beefier side of the spectrum (e.g. HMG, MLD). So I don’t have any durability concerns about them even for 4 season use.

[Erica R]

I keep looking at the Xmid and wondering about the headroom. I have 2 side entry tents. I rather dislike the Zpacks Hexamid Twin. Despite some modifications to increase the headroom there is only about 9″ between me on a inflated pad and the fabric. Not at all pleasant when it rains.

The one-person Copper Spur has adequate headroom during a rain, but it is rather heavy (2.5 lbs, I think) with the hub and poles.

How much headroom does the Xmid have? Should I give up on side entry lightweight tents, and just go for a front entry?

What is the angle of the wall near where my head goes?

Thanks,

Erica

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Erica,

The short answer is that the headroom is generous in the X-Mid for a lightweight tent. Certainly there are much heavier tents that have more, but for lightweight tents the X-Mid 1P is about as generous as it gets.

A longer answer is that the X-Mid has twin 43″ high peaks (interior height, the fly height is 46-47″) and these peaks are located quite far apart (50″), so you get that ample headroom over a large span of the interior. Basically you can sit up anywhere inside.

You mention the Hexamid Twin and the Copper Spur. The Hexamid Twin has one tall peak (48″ fly height) but then the other peak is much lower (32″) and these peaks are much closer together (30″ vs 50″) near the center of the tent, so you really only get good headroom near the door pole. You don’t have much headroom near the ends of the tent so indeed the fly is close to your head when laying down. The Copper Spur has a max interior height of 38″ (fly height around 41″) but unlike the Hexamid, the Copper Spur does a nice job of preserving this height over the a large portion of the tent due to the pole structure.

Headroom in the X-Mid would likely feel at least as good as the Copper Spur. I haven’t used one, but the X-Mid interior peaks are taller (43″ vs 38″) and also spread apart nicely so you get a lot of headroom throughout. Probably the best look at headroom in the X-Mid is the video where you can see me get in, put my arms above my head and lay down here:

As to your more specific question, the slope of the end wall of the fly is 60 degrees and then the end wall of the inner is a bit steeper at 66 degrees because the mesh wall is further from the fly at the bottom (7″) than the top (3″). Here is a screenshot from the video that is annotated to show roughly what that slope is. You can see it is quite a steep wall, so the tent doesn’t hang in your face like many other trekking pole shelters:

Here’s one more picture showing the same thing:

[Boyan B]

<p style=”padding-left: 30px;”>I have owned the Stratospire, still own the High Route and the Copper Spur UL1. The former two are CAVERNS in comparison to the BA tent. The footprint of the xmid looks to be in the same ballpark as the SS, which probably means internal livable area twice that of the Copper Spur, which resembles a coffin more than a proper shelter :-)</p>

[Erica R]

Dan, thank you for the excellent response. It is clear you love working with this tent. I will sign up for a Massdrop notification.

Boyan, your comment is very helpful.

Thanks, Erica

[Erica R]

Here is what I found on a Copper Spur UL1 / XMid floor area comparison:

28″ x 86.5″ 16.8 sq ft (Xmid) https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-dan-durston-x-mid-1p-tent#specs

42″ (30″ at foot) x 90″ 22 sq ft (Old Copper Spur)  https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/117892/big-agnes-copper-spur-ul-1-tent

There are of course other considerations like weight, headroom, 2 doors, polycro, all which favor the Xmid

 

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Erica,

It looks like the current version of the Copper Spur has a floor that is 88″ long and then 38″ at one end and 28″ at the other (20.2 square feet), so a bit smaller than the old version.

Here are side by side scaled drawings of the X-Mid and Copper Spur (the CS isn’t perfect because BA’s site doesn’t have all the details, but it’s pretty close (the fly is much closer to the floor because BA stops the fly about 6″ off the ground so it hardly extends past the floor).

Overall the Copper Spur has more floor area (20 vs 17 square feet) but a lower roof (38″ vs 43″) and most noticeably, quite a bit less vestibule space. The X-Mid has 29 square feet of vestibule space whereas the Copper Spur has 9 square feet.

I think the main reason to go with the Copper Spur would be if you want a freestanding tent, whereas the reasons to go with the X-Mid would be:
– quite a bit lighter (28 vs 34oz)
– pitches fly first, so the inner doesn’t get soaked during set up.
– dual doors, dual vestibules.
– quite a bit more headroom
– uses no sag fabric so the fly doesn’t sag in the rain and stick to the inner tent
– much lower price
– fly that can extend right to the ground to block breezes in windy conditions
– more waterproof materials (2000 vs 1200mm)
– dual vents

So overall it’s lighter, more spacious, more featured and better in tough weather, but the Copper Spur is freestanding.

[Roger Caffin]

but the Copper Spur is freestanding
So in the next wind it will blow away …
A null-value claim.

Cheers

[Erica R]

So, I know the Xmid can be set up fly first, then the net tent. I assume then, that the net tent alone can be used on mild nights?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Yeah the net tent can be used alone if desired. You do need to move the guylines from the fly to the inner peaks (tie them on below the buckles), and then add a small loop in the cord for the pole tip. If you wanted to do this regularly you could leave cords in place on the inner, or get even fancier and make a set of cords that clip to the peak buckles and have permanently tied loops in them.

Here’s a photo. There’s a bit of a weird fish eye effect going on so the right end looks flat and the left end looks quite angled, when really both are somewhere in the middle.

[Andre W]

What’s the recommended trekking pole length for the X Mid? Would 120cm be too short for most cases?

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Hi Andre,

I’ve added a bunch of specs like this for the X-Mid along with diagrams on a new website here: DurstonGear.

But in short, 120cm poles work well. The height of the X-Mid peak are typically 46 – 47″ (117 – 119cm)  depending on any irregularities in the ground, and how long you extend the cord at the corners (longer lifts it higher). A 120cm pole (47.2″) is normally just slightly longer than the peak height, so it works well because you can position it on a slight angle to take up that extra length. That gives you a little extra length if needed (e.g. when the ground dips), so you should pretty much always have enough length.

[Andre W]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for taking the time to respond with such a detail answer. You rock.

Glad to know that the 120cm poles I already have will work perfectly with the X-Mid tent… if and when I actually get one. Missed the first drop so now in-line for the additional/second second drop.. such a long wait ahead.. you’re kiiling me, Dan :D

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Yeah it’s a long wait. They were going to do another drop in early Feb but the scheduling didn’t work out on that (I’m not sure of the details). I’m told there going to do one “soon” but that might be a few weeks. Either way, they have 300 more tents coming in time for June so they are going to sell those before too long.

[J-L]

A teaser of the DCF X Mid, dubbed the X-Mid Pro:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuSPMurlP04/

From the post: 13.64 oz weight, singe-wall/hybrid, fly is 0.51 oz DCF, floor is something lighter than 1.0 oz DCF. Likely pre-sale in the Fall for Spring 2020 delivery.

[John Vance]

Oh man…. I am in on the 1 person x mid (second wave) and most likely the two person as well. This new x mid pro has me thinking of a trio…..will that make me a confirmed Durston groupie? Sweet designs! If they deliver even 90% in the field they’ll be a hit!

[Link .]

I’m  definitely ordering the X-Mid Pro when it becomes available!

[CARLOS C.]

Dang thats light

[David Wiese]

Hey Dan,

How do the dimensions of the X-Mid Pro compare to the new TT Aeon Li?

Tall and curious here!

[Boyan B]

Yup, super light but probably fragile like other DCF gear. If the Xmid is any indication the Xmid Pro will be very competitively priced and will be super popular around here. I will probably happily lug the extra 10oz to get a more robust fabric though. If I hiked more I may feel otherwise.

[Author]

Posts